Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1887-08-13
DRIFT.

The other day good friend OF mine and
also Of the Y. N. q. A., Of this city, who In .
quiet way hss probably done - much for
the latter ~ any one in town, askod me
whether I had been In the reading rooms
aimee their renovation. A. / had 70 C0nfess
that had not, no urged me TO step In 10 80
them the next time I passed that way.
concluded 70 70 st ones, and did 90 ] con-
iess that Was more than pleased with my
visit
believe II 10 10 the zeal and energy OF the
Lsdies' Auxiliary association, In large do.
gree st least, that the tasteful renting Of the
rooms In owing. For it seems that the
young men have not yet thoroughly learned
the art OF helping themselves. In the last
few years ct least the auxiliarios have done
more work and shown . more energetic
spirit, than oil the young mon put together.
In fact had 1t depended upon the latter, the
sssocistion would hardly be In existence,
certainly would not be in the good condition
In which II In to-day. This 10 ono Of the
main reasons have heard nj ged against the
association, tho spathy, heiplessnoss, lack Of
enterprise and interest In the work on the
part Of the young men Of Lancaster.
All this, however, hss nothing to do with
the reading room and library about which I
chiefly intend 70 talk here. For practically
these belong 70 tie whole public, and Ger.
tainIy ought 70 have the Interest, encourage
ment, aud active support Of the entire pub
Lie.
In the ii rst place, the fine, large reading room
Is open day and evening to everybody. On
Its tables are to be found nearly oil the lead.
ing daily newspapers Of New York and
Philad el phia, besids our local and county
dailies and Weekiies, . number OF secular
and religious weeklies like Hdrper's, The
Christian Union, and others The best
magazines, too, are there, The Atlantic, The
Century, Harper's Monthly, Lippincotts',
81. Nicholas, etc. Moreover, anyone can
read, while In the room, any OF the books In
the library. The benefit OF such tree read
ing room to = community cannot be overes-
timsted. 1t ought 70 be crowded oil the
time. That It In not, 1 can only attribute to
the circumstance that too many know OF its
existence and advantages only from hearsay.
They have never taken the trouble TO 20 and
examine and be convinced for themselves.
Perhaps, also, many have been deferred
from giving It even such an examination by
an underlined and groundless prejudice
For some reason or other they associate with
that name all kinds Of notions about prayer
meetings, tracts, and ofticious and obtrusive
reliRiosity land fancy that . dim religious "
gloom, q prayer.meettng atmosphere and oil
manner of % pious !" restraints and restric.
lions, must prevail there. All this, OF course,
10 sheer nonsense. Nothing OF the kind ex-
ists there. 1t needs but visit to the rooms
1t any time to dieabuse the most prejudiced
on the subject.
Since Its renovation the reading room is -
In nviting and cheerful looking place - any
one conld desire. The bright new paper on
the wallis, new light paint on sll the furni.
turc, and fresh and attractive carpet ON the
floor, ail together present restfui, cosy,
homelik0 appearance that 10 emtnently
pleasant and attractive On summers day
cool place OF resort - can be found In the
city while In winter, doubt not, It IN kept
warm and comfortable. There n one i'm.
provsment however, that some one ought to
suggest to the managers, especially - It
could be made with but little expense, and
that 10, table or desk specially set apart and
furnished with writing facilities and ms
teriala It II an improvement which am
sure would % much appreciated, and would
add materially to the convenience and At
trsciiveneas Of tho p sea
As to the library, don't hesitate to say
that for its size II 10 superior to the majority
OF similar libraries that have come under my
notice, not only here at Lancaster, but
anywhere else. By this I mean that 1t
contains q smaller proportion OF inferior
literature and q larger proportion OF the btst
class OF books.
Upon the shelves OF moat Y. NJ. q. A.
libraries you will find . mass OF wishy.
washy sentimentalism, morally enervating,
spiritually debsuching, and literarly worth
less, which 10 imposed upon the inexpe-
rienced aud ignorant reader - religious
reading" though really it IL nearly all ut.
tsrly irrsligious In its tendency, wholly In
imical TO eli true, manly, and wholesome re.
lgious thought feeling snd life. There Ia
notable and commendsble absence OF such
stuff from the shelves OF our library. don't
mean to say, indeed, that this kind has NO
tion OF them 10 happily small, much smaller
than that OF the Representatives Of the bost
and most wholesome Christisn literature,
like, for example, T. I. MunRer's Freedom
Of Faith, F" and !" On the Threshold, that
volume OF the most manful, elevatipg, re.
freshing and strengthening lectures to young
men, the best thing OF the kind published in
recent years
l was particularly pleased to see very faiI
representation Of the standard American
classics. All Of Irving's works, think, are
there and know that all OF Emerson's are
and that too In the only worthy edition, the
beautiful Riverside Edition. " Hsw.
thorne's best are there too. II remember
rightly / also saw oil or nearly oil of DR.
Holiness writings there, from the Auto
crst to the " Mortal Antipathy. Lowell
IL not missing, though failed TO find his 10
test volume, /" Democracy and Other Ad
dresses " nor am sure OF My Garden Ac
Quaintance" " being there. IL these two
volumes are missing, they certainly ought Il
be supplied at once, Tor they are probably o
Q more popularity interesting character tnaI
any OF his other works.
There are . number OF other American
books OF the very nrst quality which dom
remember seeing, though possibly l over
looked them, or they happened to be " out
at the time of my visit Among them wer
stesdman's " Victorian Poets" and " Poet
of America" Whipple's "Literature G
the Age OF Elizabeth, and "Amsl
loan Literature" Thoreau's works, AM
those charming bird books: Torrey'
" Birds In the Bush," Mra Mi
ler's Bird Ways" and Maurice ThomI
sons By-Wsys and Bird Songs, not
mention Edith Thomss's prose poems u
"The Round Year. F" Neither did l %
"My Lady Pokshontas" 40 quantity DC